


I Come Back To You

by TempestJewel, ZadZap



Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: F/M, Give this fic a chance, M/M, Multi, Other tags may be added, Rick Sanchez loves his family, Rickorty, The Citadel, mortycest - Freeform, president morty - Freeform, rickcest - Freeform, stanchez
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-01-25 16:47:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18578530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TempestJewel/pseuds/TempestJewel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZadZap/pseuds/ZadZap
Summary: “Uh…R-Rick, I think we have a problem…” The boy said, twiddling his fingers a little as he bit his lip before speaking up once again. “A kid at my school summoned a demon today, and he was saying weird stuff...” He said causing Rick to set his project down.Project forgot he stood up and rolled his eyes. “A demon? What the hell is it with kids these days? Summoning demons…” The old man couldn’t believe kids these days were so careless with things like the supernatural, it was ridiculous what people did, like summoning demons for whatever the hell reason they had. “Alright, what does this demon look like?” He asked, grumbling a little as he made his way over to a box and started sifting through it for stuff that might help in the situation, though he didn’t deal much in the supernatural. No, science was more his thing, and sure, he dealt with the supernatural every once in a while…but it just hadn’t been something he had worked to make sure he was prepared for thoroughly.“Uh…you know the triangle thing on money? Just like that except, symmetrical…and suave?” Morty said, thinking. “He convinced half the kids to give him souls, and he didn’t even do anything.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I’m just going to get this disclaimer up now, but some characters will be a tad out of character, and I do apologize for that. I do hope you enjoy the fic regardless as me and my RP partner have worked hard on this and wanted to share it with you all, there will be various pairings along with Stanchez…do be prepared for some future incest concerning some Rickcest, Mortycest and some RickMorty relationships in future chapters. If you aren’t into that, then I apologize, but this fic is not for you.
> 
> Also, I do apologize if the writing style isn’t the best, I will admit I’m not good at novelizations and shit, but I do just write fanfiction for the fun of it, so you know. I do hope you like

A week had passed since the Pines twins had graduated high school, and Dipper had suggested to his Sister that they should move to Gravity Falls permanently. In all honestly Gravity Falls was a far better place than the town they lived in back in California, the air just seemed so much cleaner too. Not to mention, the area as far more interesting than living in a big city which was always so congested. Sure, summer trips to Gravity Falls were fun, but the idea of just being there permanently was a pleasant thought that he and his sister had been talking over with each other for a couple of years now. They both had some friends there, and Dipper just felt more at home there each summer they visited.

When the bus arrived, Dipper grabbed for his bags and looked to Mabel. “Ready?” He asked, getting excited about being back in Gravity Falls once again, it was always exciting to come back more so since they were moving here with their uncles. “You bet!” Mabel replied, happily grabbing her bags as she followed him onto the bus. They’d sold most of their stuff beforehand so they could buy their things once there, it would save on shipping, so they didn’t have to bring a whole bunch of boxes with them. 

She was just as excited as her twin brother, especially to see her uncles again, maybe finally get a boyfriend this time around or something if that was even in the cards. Mabel wasn’t as boy crazy as she had been back then, but she still wanted someone to love her.

~~~~o~~~~

A minor tremble could be felt in Gravity Falls, the place waiting for the twins to return, the small quake causing the Bill statue to tremble just a little like the demon encased inside was slowly waking from his slumber.

~~~~o~~~~

Stan stood in the kitchen of the shack as his popcorn was currently finishing up in the microwave when it had finished, he took it out and opened it up. “Do you think the kids want rooms of their own?” He asked, looking to Ford as he headed back to the living room and sat beside him. The man’s twin hummed in thought as he looked at Stan. 

“Maybe, but we’ll have to ask them once they get here.” He suggested; glad they had built onto the shack a few summers ago just so that there was room for when the twins wanted separate rooms of their own. He took some popcorn from the bag that Stan had popped, stopping a moment when he felt the slight tremor. “That felt like a tiny earthquake.” He hummed, wondering what had caused it, but then again it could have just been the tectonic plates or something.

“Did you leave the portal on?” Stan asked after a moment.

“Nope, I distinctly remember turning that thing off before leaving the room,” Ford said, thinking about it a bit before nodding in confirmation. “But it doesn’t hurt to double check.” He hummed as he got up, putting the code in the secret door before heading downstairs to take a quick look.

Stan gave a small snort as he left. “Nerd.” He said with a hint of fondness as he put some popcorn in his mouth and eating it before turning his attention to the TV, their relationship was better these days and Stan felt better than ever. Even if they didn’t reconnect romantically, he felt that was fine, at least his brother was here, and they got along again. Besides, he was far too old for love anyway, though sometimes his thoughts would turn to the blue-grey hair in his dreams which smelled like alcohol out of nowhere.

He pushed that thought away…that had been a long time ago.

Ford returned a couple of minutes later, closing the entrance before heading back to the couch and sitting down beside his brother. “It was off; I’m not sure what the tremor was.” He said, not too concerned with the cause, though he did wonder about it a bit before his thoughts turned elsewhere. “We should make dinner for the kids before they arrive.” He said as his eyes turned to the time on the clock.

“What do we want to make? It’ll be about four hours; I know this nice chili Verde recipe from when I was in prison back in Mexico which will take about that long.” Stan suggested.

The other hummed in thought and nodded. “Sure, sounds like it’ll be delicious.” He said before getting up and heading toward the kitchen; he got out the pan to cook with and the meat they would be using for the chili as Stan set the popcorn aside before joining him in the kitchen. “Do we have any tortillas?” He asked as he got to work on cutting up the veggies and other things for the sauce.

“Yup,” Ford replied as he went to grab the bag that he had put with the rest of the bread items.

“Great, wrap them in threes, then put them in some aluminum foil. We’ll back them toward the end enough to soften them up.” Stan said and spent the next few hours cooking with his brother which he had found fun.

~~~~o~~~~

Soon the sign for Gravity Falls came into view, and Mabel beamed when she saw it. “We’re here!” She said, grabbing her brother’s arm in excitement and Dipper smiled, getting up when the bus slowed at their stop. He grabbed his bags and put them over his shoulder. Let's head to the Mystery Shack.” He said as they got off and he started walking; his sister grinning as she took off after him happily.

Once they reached the shack Dipper headed inside and looked around the living room before venturing further inside the house. “Uncle Stan, Ford?” Dipper called before reaching the kitchen and smiling as the scent of food hit his nose. “Kids, you made it!” Stan beamed as he made his way over, wrapping his arms tightly around the two in a bear hug.

“Ah! Squishing me!” Mabel squeaked.

Dipper chuckled a little as he hugged Stan back, smiling. “Hey, Uncle Stan.” He said happily as Ford came over and took them both in a hug as well, though not as bone-crushing as his brother had done a moment earlier.

“We’re so glad to finally be here!” Mabel said excitedly.

“We’re glad to have you both back,” Ford said, smiling. “Now, I’m sure both of you are very hungry after your trip.” He said.

“Starved, whatever you guys made smells good,” Dipper said, feeling his stomach grumble as he took in the smell of the food that was being cooked.

“Some authentic Mexican food straight from prison.” Stan teased.

“I love Mexican!” Mabel said excitedly.

Dipper nodded and smiled. “Sounds good to me.” He said as Stan got the food and hotplates. 

“We even made some Mabel juice, though not the super potent blend,” Stan told them as Dipper and Mabel sat down at the kitchen table with Ford. “Alright, sounds good,” Dipper replied as they were served their food.

Taking a bite of his food, Dipper looked to his uncles, wondering what all they had done on their adventures while they were away for the school year; he always enjoyed hearing what all they had done while he and his sister were away.

“We fought a giant squid and were still being attacked by baby ones. I haven’t had so much calamari in my life!” Stan said, and Ford chuckled softly as he went on about other things they had done during the year over dinner with Dipper and Mabel listening, captivated by all that had gone on.

Once their storytelling of their events from traveling was over Ford sat up and looked at them. “Will you two be sharing a room again or do you two want separate ones this time?” He asked after a moment, knowing they both were practically adults now, and sometimes siblings didn’t want to share rooms when they were older. “We can share if there’s no room, we don’t want you living in the basement again,” Mabel said.

“Nah, we built an extra room on just in case you two wanted to have your own rooms,” Stan assured her.

“Yeah, so, no harm is done there.” Ford smiled.

Dipper nodded at that and hummed in thought. “Then sure, we can do separate rooms. Coin flip to see who gets the new room, Mabel?” He asked, looking to his sister who just gave a smug look. “I already claimed it!” She stated.

“Do I sense another butt kissing contest?” Stan grinned.

“Maybe.” Dipper chuckled.

“This should be entertaining.” Ford sighed, smiling.

“Very.” Stan nodded as Mabel stood up suddenly, taking the dirty dishes from the table since everyone was practically done eating and everything. “I call dishes!” She said excitedly as she put them on the counter, taking her sweater off and around her waist before starting the water and waiting for it to heat up enough with the soap.

“I’ll clean the living room!” Dipper added before leaving the kitchen to go work on the living room, and Ford chuckled softly while his brother got up from the table. “I’ll go make a scoreboard.” He said, leaving the room, god he’d missed these kids and was so glad that adulthood hadn’t changed them all that much.

~~~~o~~~~

Taking a swig of the liquid in his flask, Rick tasked himself with a project he had been pointlessly working on while Morty was out with Summer doing something, what that something was he wasn’t quite sure, but he didn’t quite care. It was most likely that Morty was at school, and maybe Summer was picking him up? He couldn’t quite remember, but he knew she had graduated a couple years ago and didn’t go anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted when Morty came running into the open garage and trying to catch his breath, making Rick look up from his work. “Uh…R-Rick, I think we have a problem…” The boy said, twiddling his fingers a little as he bit his lip before speaking up once again. “A kid at my school summoned a demon today, and he was saying weird stuff...” He said causing Rick to set his project down.

Project forgot he stood up and rolled his eyes. “A demon? What the hell is it with kids these days? Summoning demons…” The old man couldn’t believe kids these days were so careless with things like the supernatural, it was ridiculous what people did, like summoning demons for whatever the hell reason they had. “Alright, what does this demon look like?” He asked, grumbling a little as he made his way over to a box and started sifting through it for stuff that might help in the situation, though he didn’t deal much in the supernatural. No, science was more his thing, and sure, he dealt with the supernatural every once in a while…but it just hadn’t been something he had worked to make sure he was prepared for thoroughly.

“Uh…you know the triangle thing on money? Just like that except, symmetrical…and suave?” Morty said, thinking. “He convinced half the kids to give him souls, and he didn’t even do anything.”

Rick scoffed at this and rolled his eyes. “Of all the…you don’t willingly give your soul to a demon no matter how smooth talking they are!” He groaned, making an ah-ha noise when he found a box of salt, handing it over to Morty before grabbing a few other things. “Alright, let's go and get rid of this thing.” He said before hopping into his space ship and took off when Morty got in the passenger seat.

“The demon said he finally made it to a universe that didn’t have a ‘Gravity Falls’ in it, do you know what that is?” Morty asked, looking to Rick who stopped a moment to think, god he hadn’t thought that place in years…thought about that fierce as nails brunette he spent a lot of the time making love to when they weren’t off doing some form of crime. The only person he felt anything for as much as he had Dian. 

“Gravity falls? It’s a small town with a lot of supernatural activity…it’s in another dimension. This is going to take a lot more than just us two Morty. That demon is not going to be easy to get rid of.” He said as he drove his ship.

“Have you met him before?” Morty asked, looking a little afraid, if he and Rick couldn’t take this demon, then who could? His grandfather could practically take on anything and outsmart them or annoy the holy hell out of them till they wanted to just die or try revenge that just outright failed.

“Sounds like Bill Cipher…and if that’s the case, we’re in a shit tone of trouble,” Rick said as the ship approached the school, the place was on fire and looked far more different than he had last seen it, now reshaped into the form of a pyramid. “Oh fuck…” Rick said as he observed. “Yeah, that’s Bill, fucking Bill all over.” He may not have met the demon, but he had heard of him somewhere in his travels, the guy was known as a nightmare demon, and he had caused quite a lot of chaos.

His thoughts were interrupted when Morty spoke up. “So…what do we do?” He asked, wringing his hands nervously and Rick sighed as he sat back, watching the chaos unfold in front of them. “We’re taking a trip to Gravity Falls for one…where is your sister? She was here to pick you up right?” He asked.

“I think so, I ran to find you as soon as I sensed trouble…” Morty said, upset. “What if he eats Summer?” He asked, freaking out a little bit as Rick grabbed a blaster from behind his seat, handing it to Morty before grabbing another for himself. “Let's go.” He said, getting out of the ship and heading inside. The place was total chaos, weird eyeballs turning people to stone and carrying them away while random monsters partied. Bill was in the middle of the gymnasium looking around. “Man, this dimension is defenseless! I’m a genius!” He said happily.

“Okay, that’s not good…” Rick said and hit one of the creatures before it could get either him or Morty as they looked for Summer and his grandson was trying his best not to hyperventilate while he shot at the monsters with his grandfather. “Summer!” He called, hoping that his sister heard him.

As he called for her Summer poked her head out of one of the classrooms. “Morty!” She called, and Rick grabbed Morty’s arm, leading him over toward his granddaughter as he shot at a few of the creatures. “Let's get the hell out of here.” He said once he had her and started for the door.

“What about Bill? What’s he going to do?” Morty asked, afraid as another wall burst into flames, by the time they made it out they would see that the influence was spreading at a steady pace. “You two get in the car, I’ll see what I can do,” Rick said before leaving to head back inside.

Morty frowned and turned to Summer. “We can’t leave Rick alone; he said he couldn’t stop Bill on his own!” He said, and Summer bit her lip as she thought a moment before grabbing his arm. “Maybe he has some extra weapons in the car.” She said before dragging her brother out to the car so they could get some blasters so they could help.

~~~~o~~~~

Rick entered the room, blaster, in hand as he took in the sight of the gym turned throne room, glaring at the triangle as he spoke. “I don’t appreciate you trying to take over my dimension.” He said as he held his blaster up and shot it at him only for the demon to stop the blast with his hand. “And I don’t appreciate old people trying to stop me, either.” He said.

The triangle grabbed at Rick, bringing him closer before frowning as he caught a very faint scent on the elderly scientist before him. “you carry a faint smell…you’ve Been to Gravity Falls! Are you a dimension hopper?!” He asked in a demanding tone as he glared at the man before him.

“I am, and I haven’t been to Gravity Falls in years, but I’m aware of you. I don’t know why you’re here in this dimension, but I’m going to take you out of it.” He said as he started creating a circle and chanting; Rick wasn’t much on messing with demons or anything, and he probably wasn’t doing this right, but at least it could stop this guy from ruining everything.

Before much else could be done Bill roared and smashed Rick hard into the ground, preventing him from trying much else. “No you don’t, old man! I may have lost there, but I will not lose here!” He roared as Rick cursed, groaning as he got up shakily as he looked at the triangle with a slight smirk. “Ooh, I’m scared.” Rick taunted, rolling his eyes as he got back to chanting as he tried to stop the demon, but Morty and Summer had come back, trying to shoot at him once more causing the triangle to roar once more as he reached for Summer only to be shot in the eye by Morty which sent the demon spinning.

“You little fucker! Always the eye! That’s it, you’re dead, all dead!” He shot random bolts of energy at kids, missing mostly since he was unable to see but some grazed Morty’s shoulder, it burned more than anything he had felt before. 

“Morty, Summer! Car, now!” Rick yelled, knowing they wouldn’t win this one; he was going to have to break down and head to Gravity Falls if they were going to take on this demon. He ran to the car, making sure Summer and Morty got in before getting in himself as his grandson held his shoulder, trying his best not to cry with how painful it felt.

As Rick drove off Summer looked at the burn on Morty’s shoulder to see how bad it was while their grandfather pulled up a portal for the car to go through. His injury was significant and discolored, but it wasn’t bleeding much thankfully, but it took the same of Cipher’s seal as the ship landed in front of a shack that was in the middle of the woods. “Grandpa, where are we?” She asked as her eyes fell on the building in front of them, it looked like one of those dumb tourist traps, though it didn’t seem like it had visitors these days.

“Gravity Falls, Oregon…and this is the Mystery Shack,” Rick said.

“The place Bill Mentioned?” Morty asked, shoulder throbbing a bit, though it felt better since it was doctored, getting out of the ship with Rick and Summer. “Yeah, this is it.” Rick sighed as he looked around.

~~~~o~~~~

Stan turned off the TV when he heard something and narrowed his eyes. “Ford, did you hear that?” He asked, and Ford frowned, getting up from his chair. “Sounded like a ship landing or something…” He said as he went to the door, looking to investigate as he checked outside the window. “We have visitors…and hey came in a space ship.” He said, a little confused since they looked human. He turned to see his brother slipping on his brass knuckles before heading out the door. It was then that Stan stopped in his tracks as he looked at the man before him, going slack-jawed as he looked at the man with the grey-blue hair as well as the scent of booze that followed the man like it always did. “R-Rick?!”

Rick looked to him and scratched his head, feeling a slight bit nervous at seeing the other man before him. “Stan, hey.” He said before noticing the other man coming out the door. “Looks like you got that portal working...”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, I feel I should specify that this whole roleplay/fanfic was based on fanfic called Two Truths and A Lie and we’re only basing it off the first fic and completely ignoring the other parts…so if you are confused then I will gladly direct you to find that fanfic I just referenced.

Ford watched the exchange from where he stood in the door, so this odd man who showed up in a space ship was someone his brother knew? He hummed at the thought as he stepped out of the house, taking in the man’s appearance before them. Blue-grey hair, turtleneck sweater worn under a lab coat, and brown slacks, and the scent of alcohol were on this man’s breath. “You know this man, Stanley?” He asked, looking to his brother who gave a small nod.

“Yeah, Rick…this is my brother, Ford…the real Stanford, my name is Stanley.” Stan said, feeling a little awkward as he continued talking. “Uh…Ford, this is Rick Sanchez; he’s an uh…space traveler.” He said, trying to figure out how to word it and eventually settled on what he had said, not wanting to say anything about their romantic history, or the fall out that almost made him give up.

Rick looked at Stan and gave a little nod as he had pretty much figured all that out by now. “I know.” He replied, and he would have said something further till Summer interrupted, looking between him and Stan. “Hate to interrupt the reunion, but we seriously need to get rid of the demon that came from here before it destroys everything.” She said, getting a little impatient. That caught Ford’s attention, looking toward the girl who had just spoken as he went out further into the porch. “Demon?” He asked, feeling the sense to dread only then, had Bill escaped his prison they had put him?

“Wait…Bill. He’s supposed to be stone in the woods.” Stan said. “I nearly lost my mind kicking his ass! Oh, wait…uh, how old are your…err, kids? Grandkids?” 

“Grandkids…” Morty supplied.

“Yeah, well somehow he ended up in my dimension and decided to cause his little madness there,” Rick said before looking to his grandkids. “Uh…Summer is 22 and Morty is 18…I think.” He said, and Summer rolled her eyes, nodding. “Yeah.” 

“Great, I can curse for real!” Stan said, pleased with himself.

“Rick cusses all the time, even when we were younger,” Morty stated, rubbing his arm as Summer looked at it to check and see how it was looking; she then looked to the two brothers. “Anyway, do you have anything for burns? Grandpa Rick doesn’t have any aloe in his first aid kit and that that triangle demon burned him.” She said.

Ford nodded and motioned for her to follow him into the house. “Of course, come in.” He said as she followed him inside with Morty in tow.

Stan stepped aside, feeling kind of awkward as he stood there beside Rick and then headed inside. “I’ll just let you guys handle that, and I’ll go get the kids.” He said and went upstairs. “Dipper! Mabel! We got company!” He called, and the two emerged a moment later, coming downstairs and looking at their guests curiously. “Friends of yours, Grunkle Stan?” Dipper asked.

“Something like that...” Rick replied.

“Yeah…something like that.” Stan nodded.

“Hi, I’m Mabel!” The girl said as she came down and Morty blushed a little. “Uh…hi, I’m Morty.” He replied.

“I’m Dipper.” The boy greeted.

“Summer.” The older girl replied as Ford came over with the first aid kit and looked over Morty’s burn before he started to get to work on it. “Is it as bad as it feels?” Morty asked, biting his lip as he tried to ignore the sting that came from the burn as it was correctly doctored. Ford finished after a moment and hummed a little as he put the first aid kit to the side. “No, you’ll just have some slight scarring, but it won't be too noticeable once it’s all healed up.” He assured.

Walking over to Morty, Dipper looked at the burn. “What happened?” He asked, having seen the mark before, and it was connected to Bill which wasn’t good. “Bill?” He asked, concerned.

“Y-yeah, some kid at the school summoned him, and he quickly took over, said there wasn’t a Gravity Falls in our world and he was going to burn it up!” Morty said, starting to panic with each word which would probably turn into a full-blown panic attack the longer he thought about the whole thing. Through his panicky fog, he could feel Stan rub his back. “Get a hold of yourself; he can’t come here, you're safe.” He assured.

A sigh escaped the bluish haired man as he went over to his grandson. “Morty, calm down, we’re going to beat him. That damn demon is not going to defeat us.” He assured, and Morty nodded, feeling a little better as he calmed down from his minor panic attack and leaned against Rick who held him.

“We can try the same trick we used last time; it should stop him at least a few years…” Stan suggested.

“We could use the memory gun on him directly,” Mabel suggested.

“Not erasing anyone’s mind again, but yes, we could try using it on him directly,” Ford replied, nodding.

“Will it work?” Morty asked, concerned.

“Won’t hurt to try, we can’t just abandon Rick’s dimension,” Stan replied as Dipper left the room to go find the memory gun so they could use it on Bill again; he searched the room till he found the box they had put it in and took it out. Once retrieved, he brought it back. 

“Not abandoning it, especially with my daughter being there,” Rick said, even if that Beth wasn’t his original daughter, that didn’t mean he was going to abandon her.

That made Stan look at him; he had to admit that he was glad that Rick had reconnected with his daughter, the other had left home and had ended up in Gravity Falls all those years ago. “I’m glad you reconnected with them.” He said after a moment, smiling a little as he looked at Rick. “Me too…but I’m sorry I left so suddenly back then.” He said, feeling bad about abandoning Stan when he needed the help.

“Well, anyway…I found the memory gun.” Dipper said after a moment, and Stan smiled, taking it from him. “Good job, kid.” He said before looking to Rick, smirking a little. “So, still got that fancy portal gun? Who all should go?” He asked, though didn’t think it was a good idea for the kids to go either way. Mabel raised her hand. “We should all go!” She huffed, but Stan shook his head and crossed his arms, looking at her disapprovingly with a sigh. “We should probably leave you here, just in case things go wrong though…” He said, worried about whether they would get hurt, and he wasn’t about to let them get hurt.

“Oh no, Rick and I go on super dangerous adventures almost every day,” Morty said, the comment was unhelpful, but it was true since he and Rick always went on adventures that were either life-threatening or could be the complete opposite. It just depended on how things tended to go, and Rick did need him of course; he was useful.

With a roll of his eyes, Rick sighed and rubbed his temple before looking at Morty. “Let's not argue over this, but Morty I think you and Summer should stay here with the other two.” He was not in the mood for arguing, and he didn’t want anything back to happen to his grandchildren. Admittedly Rick didn’t have the best track record with caring about people, but he had grown fond of his grandchildren, and he wasn’t about to lose them over this.

A groan came from Summer as she crossed her arms and looked at him. “But Grandpa Rick.” She protested, but Ford stopped any further protests as he glared at them. “The more we argue over who comes and who stays, the worse his dimension gets. Rick, Stan, and I will be going.” He decided. “That’s final.”

At this, Mabel frowned and crossed her arms. “Fine, meanies…but we fight Bill next time!”

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time…but deal.” Stan sighed as Rick opened a portal, earning a look of amazement from Ford; his portals took looking through three books while this just required a tiny little handheld machine. “How did you create this thing?” He asked, curious as he admired the portal and the device in Rick’s hands.

“Rick’s the smartest man in the universe,” Stan said though used quotations with his fingers, as well as an annoying inflection of Rick’s voice, and Rick just rolled his eyes. “I would give you notes Ford, but this isn’t something everyone needs…especially don’t want it in the wrong hands.” He said as he headed inside the portal and the other two followed. The world was already well on the way to being devoured by Bill’s influence; the territory had spread quite a bit and looked far worse than when Rick had been here just a few minutes ago with the kids…shit. “Great…it’s like our place when he was there, it should return to normal when we get him out of here,” Stan assured as he looked around.

The skinny scientist furrowed his brow as he looked around while Ford got everything out that they would need, creating a circle with the right symbols on the ground. Sure, they didn’t have everyone here to stop him like the last time, but they would need to work harder to summon him here. “Let's take hands and get this done,” Ford told them.

With a nod, Stan took his brother’s hand and offered his other to Rick, it felt odd holding hands with the Latina man, but he tried not to think about it right now. Getting Bill was more important than having his mind on his past relationship with Rick Sanchez; he listened as his brother started working to summon Bill which thankfully didn’t take too long as the triangle demon soon assembled right in front of them, looking confused till his eye landed on Ford. “Sixer? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to stop you,” Ford said as he then started trying to get rid of him and Bill’s eye widened. “No, you don’t! You are not burning me a third time, Sixer!” He reached for Ford and ended up tackled by Stan. “Man, he’s still got a physical body!” He shouted as he distracted Bill…god he was too old for this.

Soon their efforts were working as chains rose to grab Bill, holding him down so Ford could hit him with the memory gun. As he aimed it at the demon, Bill growled and struggled. “Stanford, you traitor!” He yelled.

“I’m not the traitor, you were the one that betrayed me,” Ford replied.

“I gave you everything!” Bill yelled, trying to grow out of the chains, but they were shocking him and made him shrink back to his original size. “What is this?!” He growled.

Stan leaned close to Rick, whispering to him with a hint of distaste. “I think they used to date.”

Rick snorted. “Wouldn’t be surprised…” He whispered back.

“You used me,” Ford said, glaring at the demon who just scoffed and looked at him. “I offered to take you with me.” Bill pointed out. “Twice; mind you.”

“This is getting uncomfortable…” Stan commented to Rick who just nodded. “Yup…” He replied before clearing his throat and crossing his arms as he looked at the demon and Ford. “Okay, that’s enough of the drama. Some shit went down between you two and hell…I’m not all that great with relationships and shit…but you two need to work your crap out. It sounds like there was a problem on both ends.” He said as Ford looked at him.

“Or…you zap Bill with the memory gun, and we go home.” Stan offered instead, shrugging.

Bill growled at this. “WHAT?! Trying to erase me in his mind wasn’t enough, now you want to erase my brain?! I’ve got a millennium worth of information in here!” The demon said, struggling more. “Fuck you Ford, and you too Stanley!” 

Rick closed his eyes and sighed; this was all just one big fucking insanity ball that he was dealing with right here. “Or…and this is a big or.” He said, looking at all three of them to see if they were listening. “Triangle Bill over here can just stop trying to take over the world and live peacefully.” He said, and Ford narrowed his eyes. “That’s a bad idea…”

“You didn’t hear the rest, 12 digits,” Rick said before continuing. “You go back with them, and they keep a close eye on you.”

Stan crossed his arms, a little unsure of this whole situation, but at the same time, he was a bit curious about the entire ordeal. “What are we gonna do with him? How do we reform a forever old monster?” he asked, a little unsure.

“How can you do that?” Bill said in a mocking tone and glared at Rick. “Who’s your new friend Ford? He’s loonier than you.”

The beanpole of a scientist sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “If you must know, I’m Rick Sanchez.” He told the demon before turning to Stan to continue the conversation he was having with the other. “It shouldn’t be too hard, just punish a demon how you usually would I guess if he steps out of line.” He said like it was easy even to do such a thing. “Then again, the only supernatural I’ve dealt with was the devil and that time I had to have a vampire killed…so, maybe my advice isn’t sound.”

The rougher Pines twin sighed as he rubbed his face. “Ugh…fine. Bill, reformation or memory erasing?” He asked.

“I’ll play your stupid games,” Bill growled, and Ford nodded, humming a little as he looked around. “Alright then, reverse your little weirdmageddon.” He sighed, earning a huff from the demon before the chaos around them bled away from the scene, most of the humans returned to normal, but others just turned straight to dust.

As everything turned back to what it was initially, Rick sighed in relief immediately, glancing around. “I need to check on my daughter, and you two can come home unless you want to head home.” He said, a little worried about how his daughter was doing with all this…now, Jerry, he could care less on whether his son in law was alright or not. The man could dust like the ones that had for all he cared.

“Uh…what do you say, Ford?” Stan asked, honestly meeting Rick’s daughter seemed like an excellent idea, primarily since he had heard a lot about her when he had spent all that time with Rick. At this, a thoughtful expression passed on Ford’s face. “Yeah, sure. We can go.” He said as Rick nodded and adjusted the dial on his portal gun and aimed it as a portal appeared; the lab coat wearing older man stepped through, and suddenly he was inside the house. “Beth?” He called as the other two appeared behind him before the portal closed.

A moment later Beth poked her head out of the kitchen, a weapon from the garage in her hands. “Dad, what’s going on?! Where are the kids?” She demanded, coming out to meet him as Bill came through, eyeing the portal curiously. It was compact for sure, but it was very useless to him, that was for sure.

“They're safe, sweetie. They’re in another dimension.” Rick said and pointed to the demon. “This thing caused the problem, but he’s not going to be an issue anymore.” He assured as Jerry poked his head out before making his way over. “Who are they?” He asked, unsure about trusting these new people…especially if they were willing to hang out with Rick of all people.

“Stanley and Stanford Pines,” Rick replied with disinterest as he ignored Jerry.

“So, your Beth, it’s nice to meet you. Rick used to talk about you a lot. Nice to finally meet you.” Stan said, tipping the fez that he wore on his head, and Beth looked at him curiously. “He did?” She asked, eyeing the twins.

“So, he’s Fez’s friend, not yours?” Bill asked, shrinking down into a small triangle as he sat down on Ford’s shoulder. “Weird, I was under the impression no one liked you.” He told Stan who glared at him. “Can it, Dorito.” He replied.

Ford shook his head and hummed. “Never met the guy before today.” He confirmed.

Rick nodded and looked at his daughter. “Yeah, Stanley and I go way back.” He smiled. “Tried to help him fix his portal at some point so he could free his brother.” He said.

Jerry hummed at this, at least these two weren’t other versions of Ricks; he had honestly had enough of the multiple Ricks that came around at times if Rick was in trouble over something…which only happened once or twice…but still. “Hello, I’m Jerry.” He smiled as he held out his hand for them to shake, playing friendly with the two. “Nice to meet you, Jerry, you must be the lucky guy to have married the awesome Beth?” Stan said, quickly slipping into his tourism personality as he took the other’s hand to shake.

“Yeah, that’s my husband,” Beth replied, blushing a little at the news that her dad had talked about her to his friends. As Bill observed the interactions, he rolled his eyes; it was easy to tell that the familial ties weren’t as connected as they should have been for ordinary families…interesting.

“So, the kids are safe right?” Beth asked, looking to them.

“Yeah, they’re at my house probably having fun with my great niece and nephew,” Stan assured her, and Ford nodded. “Perfectly safe.”

“Yeah, I can’t get into their house.” Bill huffed, crossing his arms.

“Going to have to fix that you're going to be watching him…” Rick said and hummed a little. “But maybe I can fix something up so he can’t possess you.” 

Stan shrugged and pointed to his brother. “He can’t get Ford because he put a metal plate in his head.” He said, and Bill scoffed, oh how he hated that metal plate in Ford’s head. If he hadn’t of listened to Fiddle ford, things would not have gone to how they had ended up, that was for sure. “Real dick moves, too, spend eight years with a guy and bam! Suddenly he puts a metal plate in his head and stops talking to you.” He said, scowling as he looked to Ford.

“No one wants to hear your little sob story, Bill,” Stan replied as Beth watched the man argue with the demon before her; she could see how her dad had become friends with this guy.

“After figuring out what you wanted Bill, I didn’t think it was a good idea we continued,” Ford replied as Rick gave an exasperated sigh, these two scorned lovers were getting on his nerves at this point, and it was getting to be ridiculous. “Alright, that’s enough.” He said and, narrowing his eyes as he watched Bill turn red as if he was going to snap only to fizzle out and turn back to his standard color, thinking better of what he was planning to do. “And I thought we’d have problems,” Stan said from beside him, nudging him with his elbow lightly.

Honestly, Rick had to agree with that statement, sure there were some slight issues here and there, but they were not as bad as this. “We weren’t as volatile.” The beanpole of a man agreed, knowing that yes, he and Stan were scorned lovers as well, but they at least were being more civil about things than these two were being. The demon watched the two’s interaction; the two of them had a weird little bond themselves. Like scorned lovers or something but he couldn’t quite figure out what that bond was, it was so convoluted and busted with age, or it could just be something else. “Can we leave now?” He demanded.

“Right,” Rick turned to Beth and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’ll bring the kids home, Sweetie. But we might end up staying with them a few days to make sure things don’t get out of hand.” He told his daughter, earning a nod from her. “Okay, be careful.” She said, hugging him.

He nodded and hugged her back. “I will be, Sweetheart.” He assured as he pulled away before pulling out his portal gun and twisting the dial as a portal appeared. The Pines brothers went through, and Bill did as well, remaining on Ford’s shoulder as they passed back through. The next thing the three of them knew, they were in the yard, and Morty rushed to greet them. “Did you get him, Rick?” He asked.

“Oh look, it’s the replaceable sidekick,” Bill said, reading Morty’s insecurities like an open book, earning a glare from the boy’s grandfather before answering his question and looking to him. “He won’t be causing any more problems, Morty. But we do need to make sure he doesn’t cause any more problems; he needs to be a good demon.” He said, hating how Bill had pushed on that subject as he knew it was a very sore one for Morty, especially lately.

The boy rubbed his arm at the comment Bill had made, and the fact that Rick didn’t refute it. He let it go and changed the subject a moment later. “We’re going to reform it. Geez, Rick…that seems hard.” He said, a little concerned.

“It might be, but at least it’ll be watched,” Rick said and patted his shoulder a little. “Twelve digits here, needs to bring down the barrier so Triangle Bill can get in the house first.” He glanced at Ford who just rolled his eyes at the nickname.

“I’m not feeling the nickname.” He said.

“Yeah, just call him Freak; he likes that one,” Bill said with a little giggle.

“Or Sixer…” Stan said, rubbing his temple as he felt a headache coming on. “I think we need to find a way to stop him from talking.” 

Ford shook his head as he started getting to work on tearing down the barrier that prevented Bill from being able to enter their home as Dipper walked out, noticing the demon on his uncle’s shoulder. “You didn’t use the gun on Bill?” He asked, a bit confused.

“Nope, all we need to do is keep an eye on old Triangle Face, and make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble,” Rick replied as he put his hands in his pockets and hummed a little, sounded easier said than done…but watching a demon wasn’t going to be easy; he knew that much.

“Wait, we’re babysitting Bill Cipher?” Mabel asked, shocked at the turn of events.

“Yep.” Stan sighed. “Rick is going to be staying a few days to help out with that.” He said.

Summer hummed at that, crossing her arms as she looked at her grandfather. “Can we stay a while?” She asked, and Rick hummed, crossing his arms. “I don’t want us to take up too much room here.” He said, but Dipper interrupted, shrugging a little as he looked at them.

“It wouldn’t be a problem; I mean they could room with us if they wanted.” He suggested; besides, it would be nice to get to know these guys a bit more and make a couple of new friends while they were at it. “Yeah!” Mabel smiled. “They could share the new room…or we could fight over it.” She said excitedly, looking to her uncles, bouncing up and down on her toes as she too was excited about these possible new friends.

“Kids fighting sounds fun,” Bill said.

“Whatever is fine…” Morty added.

Ford finished up breaking the barrier before turning his attention to the kids. “No fighting, how about we check how many chores were done by whom…and the girls get one room while the boys get the other?” He suggested, thinking about it a moment. “We just need to figure out where Rick is going to sleep.”

“He can have my room, and I’ll stay in the basement,” Stan suggested.

“I guess that leaves me bunking with you handsome,” Bill said, batting his one eye at Ford who gave a little sigh, rubbing his temple a bit as he could feel a headache of his own coming on.

Summer watched them a moment before putting her phone away and crossing her arms, looking to Dipper. “Something tells me your uncle and the demon were together at some point...” She said as the other nodded, sighing a little as he looked back at her. “I’m starting to get that impression too.”

“Ew, he’s so triangly!” Mabel replied, then grabbed Summer’s arm. “Now, let's go get chores done and win that room!” She said, taking off into the house with the energy of a rocket taking off into outer space. The strawberry blond wasn’t quite sure what to make of her but chuckled a little as she followed her.

“Um, should we try to win?” Morty asked, looking to Dipper who just shrugged and smiled as he looked at him with a small chuckle. “Nah, just let her win.” He said, not caring about it at this point. Besides, his sister was working hard for it anyway, so why not just let her win anyway? “Cool, I guess…” Morty said as he looked around, humming a little. “So, what’s so special about this place?’ He asked, and Dipper motioned for him to follow him further into the woods, the area filled with all sorts of exciting things for people to discover that made Gravity Falls so unique.

“Let's go for a walk, and you’ll see.” He said, wearing a smile from the yellow-clad boy as he walked off after him and smiled, interested in what might go on in these woods as the place seemed so exciting already. He looked around as Dipper led him around, smiling as he took in the beautiful scenery of the surrounding forest. “This is a nice place...” He said after a moment, earning a nod from the other boy before he stopped him. Before them, a couple of gnomes were walking around. “A lot of weird stuff happens here, that’s what makes it special.”

Morty gasped when he saw them; eyes widened as he pointed toward the spot, patting the other’s arm. “Gnomes! They’re little gnomes!” he said, feeling excited and very surprised at what they had found.

A small chuckle escaped Dipper. “Sorry guys.” He said, and Morty squeaked as they started to walk off and stayed close to the other. “We just met magical creatures, and they didn’t attack us!” He said, excited about finding gnomes.

“They’re pretty peaceful, aside from when they can be pests.” Dipper smiled.

“So, do you have lots of adventures even without portals?” Morty asked.

“Yeah, my sister and I just came during the summer up until now, we decided to move here permanently this year,” Dipper replied.

“Cool,” Morty replied. “I’ve been on adventures with Rick since I was fourteen.” 

“We’ve come here every year since we were twelve.” Dipper smiled as the yellow-clad boy looked around, the place as so peaceful but he kept expecting some weird attack or someone to jump out spouting some nonsense. “This town is a little odd.” The other continued after a moment. “But honestly, it’s better than California, where we lived.” 

Morty nodded at that, agreeing with him. “Yeah, that place sucks, of course, things got better for me when I dropped out of school to adventure full time.” He said as he walked through the woods more with the other male, this was nice and relaxing, especially to make a new friend.

“School has its ups and downs, I don’t have many friends back there, but we’ve made a lot of friends here,” Dipper added, it was hard not having friends at school, but at the same time he at least knew he had a bunch back here that he could see every summer. Of course, now they lived here permanently, so they could see their friends whenever.

The other boy was silent for a moment, making Dipper glance over at him before he finally spoke. “I didn’t have any; I’m not as smart as everyone else…and I was kind of awkward…” He admitted, crossing his arms with a sigh. “But I like what I do with Rick, even if it sucks sometimes.” 

He shrugged, continuing their walk as they went into the woods more. “Well, I’m sure you can make a few friends here,” Dipper assured, smiling a little. “Heck, I’ll be your friend and Mabel would be your friend for sure.”

“I’d like that,” Morty said, smiling at the thought as Dipper hummed, nodding a little. “We probably need to head back soon.”

“Yeah,” Dipper replied. “Mabel has probably finished all the chores by now.” He chuckled softly as they turned around, heading back toward the shack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated~


	3. Chapter 3

“And then Candy was all ‘Oh Mabel is dumb’ in Japanese like I wouldn’t understand,” Mabel said to Summer; the two had discovered that they liked gossiping the past few minutes, they had finished their chores not long ago and had just been talking to pass the time. “Oh wow.” Summer said as she listened and hummed a little. “That’s not nice.” She said, so far liking this girl; she wasn’t someone that Summer would typically hang out with at home, but Mabel was pretty cool. 

“Yeah, but we worked it out later,” Mabel replied, it had been a little fight that the two had, but it didn’t last long, the girls could never be mad at each other for very long.

“She seems like a good friend despite your little fight.” Summer smiled as she sat back and looked at the cheerful girl before her, it was interesting to hear about all the adventures she had while here in Gravity Falls. If she were an average person, and that had long gone out the window once their grandfather had entered the picture, then it would all seem too unbelievable. The strawberry blond had forgotten about normalcy once she and Morty started going on adventure after adventure; it was so much better than being at home with mom and dad.

Home life wasn’t all that great; mom barely cared about anything and dad was just manipulative and always wanted someone to feel sorry for his lazy unemployed ass. Everything about the home was way too toxic for her and Morty, and if she were honest, being home wasn’t suitable for her brother when it came to the depression he was going through. 

“Yeah, her and Grenda are my besties!” Mabel said, interrupting Summer’s thoughts and she hummed at that before talking once more. “That’s awesome…my friend turned out just to be using me to get my grandpa and his friends. She was getting married to Grandpa Rick’s friend, Bird Person but it turned out it was to catch Rick and them. Tammy ended up killing Bird Person.” She said and smiled a little as she looked at Mabel. “I’ve made some other friends since then though, they’re nice.”

Now that Summer had thought about the whole thing properly, and it wasn’t the best decision to use the Meeseeks to try and become a popular kid. It hadn’t been a great idea in hindsight, and she still beats herself up about it sometimes too, but then again, she had been a stupid teenager back then, and teenagers did crazy shit sometimes.

“Wow…that’s heavy,” Mabel said. “I once had a boyfriend who turned out to be like three gnomes in a trenchcoat who wanted to marry all one-thousand of them.”

Summer stared at her in almost disbelief, but then again it wasn’t like her life was precisely typical, so it wasn’t the oddest thing she had ever heard if she were honest with herself. “Oh, my god…that’s crazy.” She said, giving a small chuckle.

Mabel smiled. “Yeah, and that was just my first day here! We’ve been on tons of adventures here since then.” She replied.

Giving a small nod, Summer hummed with a little smile. “Grandpa Rick takes me on some adventures, but he doesn’t take me on as many as he does Morty. Not that I mind or anything, but the ones I’ve been on have been pretty cool.” Honestly though, most of the time she only went to get away from her parents, if it wasn’t an adventure she always hung out with a few friends for a few days.

“We can take you to see dinosaurs!” Mabel offered.

Summer was taken aback at that. “Wait…dinosaurs?” She asked.

A laugh escaped the brunette girl in response before she gave her reply. “Yeah, me and Grunkle Stan killed one before it tried to eat Waddles!” 

“Oh wow…” Summer said, and the other girl nodded, setting up her things. “Which side of the bed do you want?” She asked as Summer looked at the bed, thinking about it for a moment before speaking up. “I can take the right side.” She decided.

“Fine by me!” Mabel replied before flopping down on the bed happily as the blond laid down beside her. “This place is pretty cool.” 

Mabel smiled as she turned over and looked at Summer. “Yeah, it is…I hope you guys keep visiting even when you have to go home.” She said, liking her new friends. Morty’s behavior was a little worrisome, but hopefully, he would feel better at some point, and Summer was pretty nice and easy to get along with so far it seemed. “Oh yeah, if not, we’ll just keep begging Grandpa Rick till he breaks and just has to take us.” She smirked, knowing her grandfather would eventually have to cave when they annoyed the hell out of him.

Their grandfather had been far less rapacious the past couple of years, and Summer had suspected it had mostly to do with Morty. Her brother had been more depressed in the past few years, and it was kind of scary.

“Yay!” Mabel said happily. “Wonder what’s for dinner…”

“Well, we could go downstairs and see if they’re making anything.” Summer suggested, earning a nod from the younger girl.

~~o~~

“Ford, you don’t put cinnamon on steak.” Bill teased, sure enough, the pepper shaker had ‘magically’ turned into cinnamon, making Ford stop, taking a look at the shaker in his hand. His eyes then landed on the triangle demon on his shoulder. “Bill, stop.” He said, getting a little annoyed that their food was starting to turn into a playground for Bill to mess around.

“Honestly, that does sound kind of like it might be interesting; I think you might be on to something,” Rick said, getting up from the kitchen table and going over to lean on the counter. “Cinnamon steak might be interesting.”

Ford looked at Rick like he had a new head, not quite sure what to make of the man that his brother had a bit of a past with. He was odd and seemed to have more of a grasp on certain things, more than he did. Not to mention, this man was slightly drunk, reaching for a flask every once in a while and slurring some of his words, it was a miracle if this guy got things done at all. “You are odd…” Those words were all he added.

A scoff escaped the grey-haired man as he looked at Ford. “As if any of us are normal at this point.” He said, smirking a little as he took a drink from his flask before setting it in the pocket of his lab coat.

“Hm…he’s weird, I like him. Continue with the cinnamon!” The demon said, kicking his legs on Ford’s shoulders; he was kind of cute when he stayed small like this. “Oh my god…” Ford sighed as he gave in, sprinkling the cinnamon onto the steak and Rick hummed in response, crossing his arms as Dipper came in. “Oh wow, Dinner smells interesting.” He said as he came in.

“Cinnamon steak, trying something new,” Rick said, and Bill nodded. “Yeah, fun.”

Stan walked into the room a moment later and went to set a bunch of trash in the trashcan. “The room is ready for you to sleep in Rick.” He said, dusting his hands off, the room had been a massive mess as it had been a very long time since he had even cleaned it out.

Ford looked at the trash and gave a little tsk sound. “Your room was very messy…” He said, but he had to admit he was glad that his brother had finally gotten around to taking care of the enormous mess that was in his room, even if it was to let his apparently ex-lover stay in the bedroom. At least, ex-lover was the vibe he was getting here, especially with how Stan was acting and Rick too, even if his actions were subtle, there was a lot of hurt between them, and it was evident.

Rick nodded at Stan’s words as he went to sit at the table. “Alright.” He replied as Stan stuck his tongue out at his brother, giving a little huff. “I live how I want.” He replied.

“My room isn’t exactly the picture of clean either,” Rick replied.

“I bet, don’t break any of my stuff again; last time was expensive,” Stan said lightly, though it was a miserable reminder of their past together before Rick had disappeared on him. Watching from Ford’s shoulder, Bill paid attention to ever interaction going around him, everything he learned was for future ammo that he planned to use against them once he got the chance. So, he kept an eye on everything going on around him so that he could use it at some point.

“I’ll be good,” Rick assured him.

“Good, why does it smell like cinnamon? Do we have a pie?” Stan asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

“Bill replaced the pepper with cinnamon.” Ford sighed. “And Rick decided to just go with it, so we’re having cinnamon steak.”

“Ew…okay then,” Stan said as he sat down at the table beside Rick. “The boys make it back yet?” He asked, thought the sound of the front door opening could be heard, meaning they had just gotten back. “Yep,” Rick replied as Dipper and Morty walked into the kitchen.

“You guys are both losers for giving up on the contest, the girls get the room,” Stan informed them causing the demon to give a little snort. “Oh, no…how terrible.” He teased.

Dipper shrugged as he went to go sit down at the table, winning the contest didn’t matter all that much to him in the end anyway, but at least someone won the room. He was just glad to make a new friend, and Morty seemed like a pretty good guy aside from his general anxiety. It was apparent he had some depression, but that didn’t matter; he hoped he could help him feel better though. “Damn, maybe next time.” He said as Morty went to sit beside Rick, excitement playing on his features.

“Aw jeez…but Rick! They have gnomes here! Like little gnomes!” Morty said holding up his arms to show him the size of the creatures they had come across in the woods. This place was so cool, and if Morty were honest, this was one of their better adventures, even if a demon trying to take over their dimension had been the start of the whole thing.

“You met the gnomes huh?” Rick asked.

“Yes!” He replied with a grin.

“You’ll see a lot of them; they dig through the trash all the time and steal sweets,” Stan replied.

“Annoying little fuckers sometimes,” Rick replied.

“Especially when they get dead set on marrying your niece every summer,” Stan said, rolling his eyes.

“I thought they were a zombie at first…” Dipper admitted, and Rick snorted, chuckling a little.

“Scared of leaf blowers though,” Stan said.

Rick nodded at that, smirking a little. “At least you found a weakness.” Morty nodded as he looked to his grandfather, biting his lip as he was starting to feel a little nervous as he rubbed his arm a little. “Can I explore more with Dipper, Rick?” He asked, hoping that he could look around more with his new friend; Morty liked it here so far and hoped that if he got to choose an adventure again, they could go to this place.

“Sure, go ahead,” Rick replied as Morty broke out in a smile, the anxious kid seemed excited at the prospect of being able to explore the place more, beaming as he couldn’t wait to go exploring more. “Besides, we’re going to be here a few days so you might as well explore more. Gravity Falls has always been a place of strange activity.” He said, earning a nod from Morty as the girls walked into the kitchen. “We need a bigger table.” Mabel huffed.

“Why don’t you kids eat in the TV room?” Stan said after a moment, it wouldn’t be so crowded at the table which only seated four. They had plenty of trays that they could use for watching TV while eating dinner though. “Sure,” Dipper replied as he got up and went to go retrieve the TV trays as Bill used his magic to help ford divide up the food.

Rick got up from the table and went to retrieve the plates out of the cabinet, putting them out on the table as Dipper came back into the kitchen to grab a plate for himself. “You guys want to watch a movie?” He asked as Summer, and the others followed him into the living room with their food. “Movie!” Mabel yelled over and over in excitement as she went after him.

Stan sighed as he cracked open a soda and hummed a little. “She’s got a lot of energy.” He said.

“You're telling me. You have no idea how much magic it took keeping her energetic self in the prison bubble. I didn’t even know humans had such vast energetic whims. That was one of my best prisons, but it wasn’t very energy efficient.” Bill said as Rick hummed, picking up his knife and fork, cutting up his steak before taking a bite of a piece. “I’m sure it took a lot.” He replied.

“Yeah, it would have worked too if Dipper weren’t so persistent, though, in hindsight, I should have just given him a bubble of his own to be in.” Bill hummed.

“Glad that didn’t happen,” Ford said as he took a bite of his food. “Mm…this does taste pretty good.” He said, having had his doubts about how this would taste with cinnamon sprinkled onto the steak instead of pepper, but it did taste good.

Bill snorted. “A war was fought over this spice, of course, it’s good.” He said, stealing a few bites from Ford’s plate with his magic. The triangle’s eye turned into a mouth as he devoured the food and Stan thought it was gross as he watched as sharp teeth where his eye had been, ate the meat. Luckily it seemed Rick had the same thoughts, though he worded them out loud. “So weird, you eat with your eye?” He asked.

“Well yeah, and you're weird. You eat with your mouth.” Bill replied. “I could make a human form, but it would be so glorious that you flesh bags wouldn’t stop worshipping it.” The demon bragged, and Rick rolled his eyes. “You mean like a god? No thanks.” He replied.

“Well, wouldn’t be the first time in this house, right Fordsie?” Bill elbowed the man’s neck teasingly causing a slight blush to dust Ford’s features as he took a bite of his food. “This is not the time, Bill.” He said with a little groan as his brother made a disgusted sound. He hadn’t told his brother much of his interactions with Bill, yes they used to be lovers, but that had been before he realized the demon was tricking him.

“That’s gross,” Stan said, making a disgusted face as the demon summoned a martini glass, giving it a small drink. “Aw…fine.” He huffed.

Once Stan had finished his food he put his dish in the sink before turning to the other two in the room. “So, what are we going to do with the rest of the night?” He asked after a moment, admittedly a little nervous considering his ex-lover was in his home and staying for a while. It just seemed so surreal as he hadn’t expected this turn of events even to happen. “Well.” Said ex-lover said as he finished his food. “We have a lot to catch up on, so I suppose we can talk,” Rick suggested, looking at him.

“That works,” Stan replied, there was a lot that he was curious about, especially after Rick had left like he did and didn’t help him with the portal like he had asked, no…begged him to do. It didn’t help that they had a bit of an argument before all of that though, and in all honesty, Stan didn’t blame him for leaving back then though as he had been hung up on the love for his brother that he shouldn’t have even felt. 

Not to mention that back then, Rick didn’t do the family thing and he didn’t know the ins and outs of all that shit, but he knew Rick had some hang-ups on how family meant very little to him back then. Rick had even asked him to go traveling with him back then, but he had refused since he didn’t want to leave Ford behind. As much fun as he was sure they would have off the planet, it just hadn’t been something he could do back then and live guilt free while his brother was stuck somewhere in god knew where. “So, when did you finally go home?” He asked, knowing the other had left his family, though he didn’t know the ins and outs of the whole thing as Rick had been pretty tight-lipped about his family life. 

Stan knew he had a daughter and some grandkids, but nothing else. A sigh escaped the beanpole of a man. “Well, I finally went home when my grandson turned twelve…so it’s been about eight, maybe nine years.” He said, thinking. Admittedly he had been traveling a while after leaving Stan to fend for himself on matters, and it had taken him some time before he started to feel lonely and the thought of family was worming its way into his heart.

“Heh, sure took your time with that, but I’m glad you made it at least. The kids were twelve when I rescued Ford too.” Stan said, all that time spent alone in the basement selling lies by day, working hard by night had finally paid off in the end. He had gotten his brother back after thirty years of trying hard to get the portal up and working. Things had worked out nicely, both of them going on adventures every time summer had ended and coming home just before the twins came to spend the summer with them.

Nodding, Rick looked at Stan. “At least you weren’t alone for long.” He said, glad that the other had some company, even if it had been a long time until any company had yet to come to him. After so much thought, it had hit him, how much he hated leaving Stan as he had.

“Yeah, that part sucked, but it got better,” Stan said, waving his hand in a so-so motion before their talk was suddenly interrupted by the demon who stared at the both of them curiously, their interactions with each other making the yellow triangle all the more curious. “So, what are you guys exactly?” He asked after a moment.

A small hum escaped Rick as he sat back in his chair. “Strangers, friends…lovers.” He said.

Ford hummed, nodding a little as he had seen their interactions thus far, it all made sense.

“Heh, yeah…something like that. We met while I was uh…taking a small break from portal work.” Stan said, not wanting to admit that he had met Rick at a gay bar, it was so stupid to think about right now.

“How long were you two together?” Bill asked.

“Man, aren’t you a curious triangle demon tonight,” Stan said, eying the demon suspiciously.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that I find intrigue in one of the three people who like you, Stan. I almost felt sorry for you think there were only two people in the world who could stand you.” Bill replied with a small huff. “For a while, if you must know an answer,” Rick replied, being vague about the whole thing as Stan started counting on his fingers, obviously a little annoyed about what Bill had just said.

“Hey, more than two people like me, even with Rick gone there are at least three, five if you count Soos and Wendy,” Stan stated, narrowing his eyes at the demon who just rolled his eye and hummed. 

“Keep telling yourself that. But that’s okay; I’m down to a total of numero uno. Just me on the liking scale.” Bill giggled a little.

Ford shook his head and sighed as he watched the two, and he had to admit that he was curious about how this man and his brother had met. “Anyway.” He said after a moment as he looked at his brother and Rick curiously. “How did you and my brother meet?” He asked as Rick took a sip of his coffee, taking a moment before deciding to answer.

It took Rick only a moment to come up with a decent lie, and if he were honest, it sounded way better than saying that he and Stan had met at a gay bar. They didn’t need to know that detail, and he very much doubted that Stan wanted them to be aware that he had gone to a bar and invited a random man into his home. “My portal gun took me here instead of where I intended to go. I ended up smack dab in the middle of the living room of the shack.”

Stan snorted a little. “Yeah, scared the hell out of me when I found this random lost man in my house. We bonded over a few drinks, and I let him stay on the couch. At least until he smooth talked his way into my bed.” He said, and Bill’s eye narrowed as he watched them, these were lies. Not bothering to bring up that fact as Ford wasn’t buying the lie; he just nodded, not wanting to push on the point. If his brother and Rick didn’t want to talk about it, then he wasn’t going to push the matter any further.

“Well, Rick stuck around for a month or two…but uh, being here cramped his style and he needed to go.” He said, rubbing his arm awkwardly as he hated thinking about the whole thing that had transpired between the both of them. Truthfully though, they had been together for a lot longer than that, pulling a few scams and crimes here and there throughout the states while he took his break from the portal. “Now that’s barely a story Fez! Give us more details!” Bill grinned, devouring the apparent emotional pain that was radiating off the younger of the twins.

Rick rolled his eyes. “Didn’t cramp my style…there was just some stuff I had to sort through.” He said, having been a little emotionally stunted like hell back then, more so than he was these days. Love had been something that he didn’t want to feel; it had been something he had reserved for Dian when she was alive, and while Rick was with Stan he could feel that same emotion coming forward. In a way, the thought that he was falling for someone in that same way was terrifying, and he had to leave for a while, especially after everything that had happened before he ended up here in Gravity Falls to try and forget things. “It was horrible timing…” Rick added after a moment.

“Yep,” Stan replied. “Well, that’s enough story time for me. Think I’m gonna shower and then go to sleep.” He said as he got up and looked over to Rick. “It’s nice to see you again Rick. See you all tomorrow.” He said before leaving the room.

Bill giggled once he was gone. “Oh man, whatever you two did must have been epic. I think he’s going to cry.” The demon practically disliked Stan, and his suffering just pleased him to no end. “Fuck off.” Ford and Rick said in unison before Rick rubbed his forehead with a small sigh, of all the relationships he had fucked up on…this had been the hardest.

“Sorry Ford, I don’t do that alone.” He chuckled, floating up. “But I can leave and cause havoc elsewhere I suppose.” He hummed, wondering if Dipper was still ashamed of singing Disco Girl. Once he was in the living room, he saw the kids were all watching a black and white movie. “Dinner with the others getting boring?” Dipper asked when he noticed the demon had come into the room.

“More like I was kicked out.”

“Imagine that,” Mabel replied.

Dipper hummed as he went back to watching the movie. “Wonder why.” He said, sarcastically.

“Well, I may have pried for a bit of Rick and Fez’s backstory and made Fez cry,” Bill said, shrugging a little.

This information caught everyone’s attention as they all turned away from the movie and looked to Bill. “What?” Mabel asked, frowning at the thought of their Grunkle Stan crying, it made Mabel a little upset and worried for him.

“Dammit Bill…” Dipper sighed, getting a little annoyed with the demon.

“That’s horrible!” Mable said, upset and Morty sighed, shaking his head. “It’s not surprising; Rick generally ruins all of his relationships,” Morty said, not sugarcoating it in the least as he knew how his grandfather was. The man generally acted like most people were too dumb for him or they were just a bother to him at times; it was kind of ridiculous but in a way it was Rick all over. At this news, Dipper paused the movie they were watching and looked at them. “Okay…so, should we be concerned if they start a relationship up again?” He asked, not wanting their Grunkle to be hurt further than he already had before.

“Probably…” Morty hummed. “I love Rick, but…he’s an acquired taste honestly.” He said as Bill paid attention to the whole conversation, this was all such juicy information that he certainly wasn’t going to pass up the chance to eventually use to his liking. The blond girl sighed a little as she looked at her brother. “But I mean, just because it didn’t work out with all his other relationships, doesn’t mean things can’t work out for him now. I mean, at least this time it’s not a hive mind that controls a whole alien race. If you recall, it was a fucking disaster.”

Boy, had it been a disaster after Unity had broken up with Rick; he had hidden in the garage for almost a week, stinking of alcohol and slight body odor as he worked on little things. It had been easy to tell the man had been depressed for a while and hadn’t asked them to go on adventures for a few days, but it wasn’t like Summer or Morty blamed him, love did weird things to people.

“True, anything is possible,” Morty said, humming a little.

The demon watched them a moment before a thought hit him suddenly, and he was just interested in the whole thing. Finding things out could help in ruining Stan or Rick, and he wanted to see how much he could upset the entire household. “Maybe things would work out better if we understood why they fell apart.” He suggested, oh this was just so fun. Bill could mess some things up once he got into these things and fucked with their issues. “Mabel, aren’t you a super matchmaker?” He asked, looking to the girl who frowned and gave him a suspicious look. “I am, but what do you get out of this Bill?” She asked.

Inwardly, Bill smirked as he looked at Mabel and the others who weren’t too sure about Bill’s true intentions with this whole thing. “I’m supposed to be a good guy now, right?” He asked as if it was apparent, and he at least was trying to play the part, but he guessed he couldn’t blame them for being suspicious of his plans. The demon looked to Dipper who gave a scoff in reply. “Still doesn’t stop us from being suspicious.” He replied.

A light chuckle escaped him. “Oh, you have every right!” He said brightly. “It’s not like I haven’t threatened and attempted to destroy you multiple times.” He giggled.

“Not to mention, this could end up being something you use against them,” Dipper said, sitting back in the chair.

“It already is, Pine Tree, how much worse can it get?” Bill asked

“Of course…” Dipper sighed.

“Hey, hey. Here, how about this, I’m trying to get back in Ford’s pants and wrecking Stanley is so not going to get me there. So there, that collateral enough to let me help?” Of course, he was probably going to wreck Stanley anyway, but he had to gain their trust for all of that.

Summer looked up from her phone briefly. “Oh my god…” She said, rolling her eyes and Dipper sighed. “I guess we can figure out this mystery somehow.” He said though he trusted Bill as far as he could throw him.

Mabel looked at him confused. “But…you’re a triangle.” She said, not sure how he could even do anything sexual with their uncle ford in the first place, how the hell did that even work?

Bill shrugged, rolling his eye as he looked at them as if it were some public knowledge for which could be available to anyone who was around. “Shapeshifting triangle, though we’ve done it in this form too…you never know how many ways-“ He didn’t get to finish before Mabel held up her hands and yelled. “Stop! Just stop; no one wants to hear this!” She said, pushing him away. “Fine, you're in. Just please shut up!” She said, not wanting to hear any more of this.

“Didn’t need a visual…” Summer said as Dipper rubbed his eyes, really not happy about the visual either.

Morty shrugged as he sat up, used to things like this by now. “It’s not that terrible; there are worse rituals in the universe.” He said, knowing that some aliens had some very messed up sexual rituals, as well as other things that were way worse. The demon wrapped his arm around Morty a moment later. “See, Insecurity here gets it!” 

Dipper shook his head as Morty backed away. “Don’t call me that; the name is Morty.”

“Sure, sure. Morty.” Bill said with disinterest as Dipper glared at him. “be nice to our guests.” He said as Summer rubbed her brother’s back, knowing he had some terrible insecurities, it made her made that the demon was playing on that.

Bill sighed and crossed his arms as he looked at them. “Alright, I’ll call him Morty.” He said, sitting between them. “So, what now?” He asked, excited as it felt nice to be a part of something again.

Dipper shrugged. “Well, you could watch a movie with us.” He suggested.

“Fine, I suppose I can do that.” The triangle replied as Dipper started the movie back up and he watched it with a bored expression, though the gore was a nice change of pace at least.

“I miss interdimensional cable,” Morty said after a moment and Dipper looked over at him curiously. “What’s that?” 

“It’s this thing Rick has that lets you watch TV from across the multiverse; it’s so cool,” Morty replied, it was one of the things that made him not so anxious when he was with his grandfather, not to mention they had found quite a lot of tv shows that they liked. Times like that, it made his anxiety nonexistent, especially when they got along when things weren’t adventure related.

“It’s pretty cool, in one of the dimensions our dad happened to be an actor…though he wasn’t a perfect one.” Summer added.

“Wow…” Dipper replied.

“I can do something similar.” Bill offered. “It’s called nightmare vision; you can flip through various nightmares of people.”

Dipper looked at him and shook his head, not liking the idea all that much. “I would rather not know what everyone else is having nightmares about; I think it’s best I stick to my own.” He replied, and Bill gave him a look of interest. “And what do you have nightmare’s about?” He asked, genuinely curious as to what the other had nightmares about anyway.

“No, I don’t have very many…I’m just saying I would prefer only my nightmares and not have to watch anyone else’s,” Dipper explained as Summer hummed, deciding to change the subject as she got up from the couch, putting her now empty plate to the side. “Anyway, maybe Grandpa Rick could bring his interdimensional cable here if we asked.” She suggested, earning a nod from Morty as he got up, going to look for him. “Let's go ask.”

Once Morty went over to Rick he tugged on the sleeve of his lab coat politely to get his attention. “Rick, they don’t have interdimensional cable here. Can you get it here please?” He asked, looking at him. A hum escaped the spikey haired scientist as he got up from the table, putting his plate in the sink. “Yeah, I think I have a box in the car…just let me go check. If not I can go get one.” He told them.

“What’s that?” Ford asked, curious.

“It’s a cable box that gets all the TV shows and commercials in all the dimension. Usually, we turn it on when new get bored around the house.” Rick explained before heading out to the car to look for the cable box, and Morty made happy noises. “Yes!” He said as Rick soon returned with the box in hand, once it was plugged in he handed Morty the remote. “Knock yourself out; I’m going to try talking to Stanley.” He said, leaving the living room as Morty and the others got to work switching channels and looking for what they wanted to watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

As much as Rick wanted to avoid talking about things, it was the best way to do this finally; he was nervous, the urge to drink a swig of his alcohol was strong, but he refused to do that right now. Punching in the code on the vending machine, Rick headed downstairs toward where he knew Stan would be hiding and gave a soft sigh as he looked around before walking right over to the other. “Hey…” He said as he watched him work the paddle ball in his hand.

The other man glanced at him before turning his attention back to the item in his hand, working hard not to break his concentration. “Hey Rick, still play?” He asked, giving a little grunt as he started losing his rhythm, it didn’t help that his ex-lover was now in the room with him. The whole thing was still so surreal after all these years, it had been so long, and he didn’t think he would ever see him again. Honestly, Stan didn’t know he would still have feelings for the grumbly old scientist after all these years, but he was wrong. 

“Sometimes, not very often,” Rick replied as he watched Stan before he stopped and pushed it over to Rick. “Wanna go?” He asked.

Rick stared at the paddle thoughtfully before taking it in his hand, looking the thing over a moment before giving a little shrug and looked to the other with a small smile. “Sure.” He replied as he started, working on a rhythm till he finally got it not to miss the paddle. “There we go.” He whispered, concentrating on keeping up the rhythm that he had set up, but he had a tiny bit of trouble. It had been a pretty long time since he had even played the paddle ball of course, and suddenly he missed the paddle, and Rick gave a little grunt as he tried to get back into his little rhythm.

“Heh, you are out of practice.” Stan chuckled as he watched.

Rick smiled as he looked at him, humming a little. “Haven’t played in a while.” He admitted, chuckling softly.

A memory reached Stan’s brain, and he smiled as he watched as Rick continued to work the paddle ball, it was so vivid like it had been just yesterday they were hanging out and doing a few crimes together. “You used to win contests for it, and I’d swipe everyone’s wallets while they watched you.” The old conman said as his eyes followed the ball before looking back at Rick, who gave a little smirk, before stopping what he was doing and looking over at the other man. “Heh, we were quite a team.” He said, smiling as he went back to work on the paddle ball a moment later, getting a whole lot better as he went.

“We did.” Stan nodded, watching the ball with amusement as Rick did a few tricks, staying on the ball as he continued to work the paddle ball as Stan gave a big Grin while he watched. “I wish I had figured out that wrist thing you did. I tried it for years,” Stan said, chuckling softly before patting the spot beside him on the bench with a little smile. “Come, sit by me.” He suggested after a moment.

“It’s easy,” Rick said as he stopped the paddle ball and made his way over to him, sitting right beside him before going back to working the paddle ball and once he got the rhythm he needed he smiled. “All you need to do is…” He made the motion with his wrist and smirked as he continued to work it just like that for a bit. The other watched with a grin playing on his face as he started to mimic his movements, then put his hand out. “Alright, give that thing to me.” He said, taking the paddle once Rick had handed it to him, then tried the trick and- “Hell yeah…”

Rick smiled as he watched him a moment and nodded. “You got it.”

After a moment Stan set the paddle down on his other side, looking back at Rick a few seconds later; he thought a moment before a question came to him all of a sudden. He had said his name was Stanford when they met a long time ago, and he had never told the other his real name. So he was genuinely curious as to how Rick had known that his real name was Stanly. “So, when did you figure out I was Stanley and not Stanford?” He asked him.

“Oh please, your handwriting is completely different from what’s in the books…not to mention other things,” Rick said, rolling his eyes, it was so obvious, and it certainly helped that Rick was smart. Sure, the twins had some resemblance, but there were differences between them, and not just some blatantly obvious ones that he wasn’t about to list right now. 

“True, hard to match fancy pants,” Stan said after a moment, earning a chuckle from Rick before he gave a soft sigh, shrugging. “Not to mention, there’s a Rick from another dimension who’s in a relationship with both of you from a whole other dimension. So, it wasn’t that hard to figure out, Stud.” Rick said as he sat back; honestly, it had been interesting to learn that the man he was in love with had lied about his name. At the same time, though, did he blame Stan for changing his name? Nope…not in the slightest.

“Whoa, that’s crazy!” Stan said as he took in the information, blushing brightly, earning a nod from Rick who gave a little hum in response.

Deciding not to bother with more details on that, Stan changed the subject, because honestly the thought of he and his brother dating the same person, especially an ex-lover of Stan’s was creepy. Quite frankly, he didn’t even want to spare any more brain cells on the whole idea. “So, how are things? I like your grandkids; they’re kind of like Dipper and Mabel.” He said after a moment as he looked to Rick who put the paddle ball away after a moment, obviously favoring talking over trying to concentrate on a few paddleball tricks he used to do.

“They’re fine, though Morty is a little worrier and Summer is just excited to go on adventures when she can,” Rick said, smiling as he talked about his grandkids, sometimes they got on his last nerve, but he loved them…though if anyone asked he would lie about it. No one needed to know he had a little soft spot for Morty and Summer, well, maybe he didn’t mind if Stan knew of course. 

“Dipper was always a little worry wart too.” Stan chuckled softly. “Heh, the kid thought I hated him the first month we knew each other. Though, I guess that was my fault, it was always easier to deal with Mabel.” He admitted, the girl at least didn’t go off trying to find things like his brother did and wasn’t a little reminder of Ford at times. A hum was all the reply that Stan got from Rick as he just sat back and sighed a little.

“Honestly, it doesn’t help that the other Ricks and I have fed into the fear that he’s replaceable.” Rick sighed as he rubbed his temple a little, admittedly it fucked with how Morty saw himself, that much the older man was aware. “I would never go through with that, of course.” He said though he should have probably explained that to his grandson, because there was no way in hell he was going to replace him, no…he didn’t need another Morty. Losing one grandson on an adventure had been enough; he wasn’t going to lose this Morty.

Stan looked at him when he said that and shook his head, sighing as he sat back as well. “You don’t want to let that fester, Bill is already giving him shit about it, and I hate to tell you, when Bill picks an issue, it’s going to be a big one.” 

“Fuckin’ triangle,” Rick grumbled, not liking what Stan had said, it was probably best they had tried to get rid of him, but at the same time, maybe they could do something to prevent him from doing other things. “Yeah, don’t know what either of you was thinking sparing him; he’s probably just biding his time to ruin lives or something,” Stan said as he looked at Rick, rolling his eyes. He did not want to go through another weirdmageddon and lose memories yet again so that they could get rid of him a second time; there was only so much a guy could take.

“Probably,” Rick said and hummed in thought. “But we’ll just keep an eye on him.” He said, knowing it wasn’t one of his best ideas, but maybe, maybe they could do something to keep the demon in check. “Maybe we can weaken his power or something.” The elderly scientist shrugged, it was going to be hard to figure some things out, but they could do it if they thought hard enough. He looked to Stan who stayed silent for a bit before finally speaking up a moment later. “Well…there is a symbol to seal him, but I don’t know anything about weakening him, except putting him in a body and kicking his ass that way.” He said, looking to Rick.

Suddenly an idea hit Rick, and he smirked as he stood, pacing the room a bit before telling the other man what he had just thought up. “Maybe if we just put him in a human body, and make it where he can’t leave…then maybe take his powers, that’ll do.” He said, the idea wasn’t exactly full proof, but if this made the demon weak, then it worked for him, hell he had the equipment to work on such a thing.

“Sounds devious, you got any body makers?” Stan asked.

“In my garage, I could bring it here,” Rick replied.

“Yeah…” Stan replied, plotting against enemies was far more comfortable than talking about feelings, and he just wasn’t in the right place to be talking about things like that just yet; he couldn’t stomach that stuff right now. Talking about the current situation was such a good distraction to keep the feelings about his old flame from bubbling up to the surface, not to mention, plotting against Bill was the best distraction. “How do we convince him to get in it? I can find some sealing stuff in Ford’s journal I bet.”

“Mm…that might be the hard part,” Rick replied.

“Should we ask Ford?” Stan asked.

“Probably a good idea.” Rick nodded, watching as Stan got up from the bench and went to push a button on what Rick was assuming could be an intercom system, and he turned out to be right as Stan pushed the button and spoke. “Hey Ford, you busy?” Get down here.” He said as he stood and waited for his brother to answer, and thankfully, he didn’t have to wait too long.

“Just finished dishes, what’s up?” Ford asked.

“Down here,” Stan repeated.

~o~o~o~

“Alright, I’m coming.” Ford sighed as he turned the water off and dried his hands before heading over toward the vending machine; he put the code in and waited for the secret door to open before going in. The man headed downstairs and looked at the two curiously as he crossed his arms. “What’s going on?” He asked, curious as to what his brother and the bean pole of a man had been talking about down here. 

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait too long before his brother finally spoke up. “Rick said he could make a body if we want to stick Bill inside one,” Stan said, making him think for a moment. Sticking the demon in a human body would be a bit of a benefit he supposed; hopefully, it would weaken his power. “That…would probably be a good idea.” He replied after a moment, not quite sure about the idea entirely, but if it worked, then maybe Bill wouldn’t be such a problem.

Rick stood and nodded as he looked at the twins, humming a little. “We just need to figure out if we can somehow convince him to get into the body.” He said though it was easier said than done…and there was no telling what would transpire.

“And make sure he stays in it, you got any magic mumbo jumbo for that, Ford?” Stan asked.

“Well, I can tattoo a seal onto the body to make it where he can’t escape…though, convincing him to get into the body is another story…” Ford replied, thinking about the situation.

Stan hummed. “Maybe convince him it’s a game, and he needs a human body to play.” He suggested.

“Yeah…not sure that’ll work…but we could try.” Ford replied.

“He’s gonna be pissed,” Stan said. “But it'll be safer this way.”

“Hm…very pissed.” Ford sighed, knowing that was not the word he should be using, no…Bill would be livid if he figured out the plan they had, but at least if they could keep him from using his powers to start another weirdmageddon. It was all going to be worth it in the end, honestly. He watched as Rick grabbed his little portal gun and made a portal with it. “I’ll be back.” The beanpole of a scientist said before going through the green swirl a moment later.

A sigh escaped Stan when Rick left through the portal, and he smiled a little. “Man, I almost forgot how much crazy Rick brought with him, and we ain’t even got drugs this time.” He said, laughing a little as he thought about their past, taking drugs and drinking themselves silly. Okay, so maybe not thinking back on their history was easier said than done, but it was hard not to think about how his life had changed when Rick stepped into his life as he had. After a moment he went to the bench and sat down, sighing a little.

“You alright?” Ford asked as he watched Stan, a little concerned about Stan as he watched his brother who looked at him. “Yup, I’m as good as can be.” He assured him.

“You sure?” Ford asked.

Stan sighed as he looked at him and shrugged a little. “Hey, Rick and I are different people now…I’d be a dick to blame him for stuff from twenty-something years ago…” He said, leaving it at that. Indeed, he had decided he wasn’t going to go off and blame the other for leaving him when he had needed him the most back then, but admittedly old feelings were starting to surface it felt like.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos appreciated.


End file.
